Blank for constructing a box of cardboard or like material and box constructed from said blank



F 79 E. KLEIN 3,302,85

BLANK FOR CONSTRUCTING A BOX OF CARDBOARD OR LIKE MATERIAL AND BOX CQNSTRUCTED FROM SAID BLANK Filed July 9, 1965 United States Patent G 3,302,850 BLANK FOR CONSTRUCTING A BOX F CARD- BOARD UR LIKE MATERIAL AND BOX CON- STRUCTEI) FRQM SAID BLANK Edmond Klein, Saint-Polycarpc, Limonx, France Filed July 9, 1965, Ser. No. 47%,839 Claims priority, application France, July 17, 1964,

982,047, Patent 1,409,433

7 Claims. (Cl. 229-61) The invention concerns, in a general way, boxes constructed by folding and adhering a blank of paper, cardboard, plastics or the like which is easily cut, upset or preformed and folded.

The object of the invention is to provide a box of this type which is particularly cheap while it meets the same requirements of stiffness that like boxes satisfy constructed in accordance with the known method.

The invention provides, as new industrial products, a blank of cheap material for the construction of such a box and the box obtained from this blank.

Said blank is obtained practically without waste, it being composed of a square element having upsetting lines constituting initiated folding lines extending in directions parallel to the diagonals of the square-element.

In a variant of the invention, said square can be provided on two of its diagonally opposed corners with additional narrow bands of short length which extend along the periphery of the square on both sides of each of said corners. In this variant the cutting of the blank involves a certain amount of waste material, but this waste is of very small area.

According to another feature of the invention, said upsetting lines form on the square blank two rectangular areas each of these areas having pairs of sides respectively parallel to the diagonals of the blank, these two rectangular areas therefore overlapping each other in a perpendicular manner so as to define a common rectangular area which subsequently forms the bottom of the box, the remaining portions of each of said two rectangularareas being adapted to form, after folding, the four sides of the box.

These upsetting lines are all formed on the same face of the blank. namely that which is intended to constitute the inside wall of the box.

Further, four upsetting lines formed in the other face of the blank are provided, these lines being perpendiculars dropped from each of the four corners of the portion of the blank subsequently constituting the bottom to the four sides of the blank respectively.

In some cases, it could be necessary to remove one of the pairs of opposite corners of the blank; the resulting scrap has a very small area so that it would still be true to say that waste is practically nil.

The box according to the invention is constructed from said blank by folding the latter along the upsetting lines and by fixing, with an adhesive or other means, some of the panels with their respective adjacent panels.

Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the ensuing description with reference to the accompanying drawings to which the invention is in no way limited.

In order to more clearly indicate the advantages of the invention this description has been made in comparison with a similar box of known type which is also constructed by the folding and adhesion of a square blank.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is the blank of said box of known type cut out from a portion of strip material;

FIG. 2 shows the known box partly constructed from said blank;

FlG. 3 shows a blank according to the invention;

FIG. 4- shows the box according to the invention partly constructed from the blank shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a portion of blank according to a variant of the invention, and

FIG. 6 is a portion of a box partly constructed from the blank shown in FIG. 5.

The blank F shown in FIG. 1 has a very conventional shape. It is cut out from a strip of sheet material, for example cardboard. The longitudinal axis XX of the strip is in the direction of the fibres of the cardboard. Thus, it can be seen that this blank has its main directions XX and Y-Y respectively parallel and perpendicular to the direction of the fibres of the cardboard.

This blank permits constructing the box shown in FIG. 2 whose bottom a is constituted by the rectangular portion ABCD, and whose two large sides are formed by the panels b [1 onto which are folded respectively the panels 0 and 0 the latter being preferably adhered to the panels [2 b Each of the small sides of the box is formed by a pair of flaps, such as d d folded toward each other, a panel e and a panel f folded over the pair of panels d d trapped between the panels e f this assembly being preferably held together by an adhesive. The assenn bly ofthe opposite side is achieved in the same manner with the panels e d d f It will be observed that the construction of this box involves the utilisation of a blank F taken from a square MNPQ and that the waste of unutilised material, represented by the four unshaded portions CH, constitutes a relatively large fraction of the square MNPQ.

The advantage of the present invention will be immediately apparent from FIG. 3 if it is observed that the box shown in FIG. 4-whose bottom and sides have the same dimensions as those of the bottom and sides of the box shown in FIG. 3-is obtained from the square blank F shown in FIG. 3 whose area is smaller than that of the blank shown in FIG. 1 by more than one third.

This blank is partically a square RSTU of which only two corners U and S are, in the illustrated embodiment, cut off. This blank has upsetting lines which are formed in the front face of the blank, that is, that which is intended to constitute the inside wall of the box, and in particular the top face of the bottom I of the finished box.

These lines are:

The lines 1a, 11; parallel to the diagonal RT of the square, the spacing between these lines being equal to the small side of the rectangular bottom I.

The lines 2a, 2b, parallel to the diagonal SU of the square, the spacing between these lines being equal to the large side of the rectangular bottom I.

The lines 3a, 3b which join the ends of the lines 1a, 1b and are therefore parallel to the diagonal SU.

The lines 4a, 4b which join the ends of the lines 2a, 2b and are therefore parallel to the diagonal RT.

It can be seen that the two rectangular portions thus defined by these eight lines overlap and define a common inner rectangular portion I which subsequently constitutes the rectangular bottom of the box.

Four other upsetting lines Sa-S'd are formed on the opposite face of the blank, namely on the face subsequently forming the outside face of the bottom, these lines being parallel to the side of the blank and formed between each of the corners of the rectangle I, for example the point K, and that edge RS of the blank which is adjacent said point.

The assembly of two adjacent right-angled triangles which have a common side 5a constitutes a gore, the direc' tion of the folding of the line 5a being opposite the direction of folding of the two other lines intersecting the point K.

A box is very rapidly constructed from such a blank in the manner shown partly in FIG. 4.

Folding along the lines In and 1b forms the rectangular lateral panels or sides Ila and Ilb of the box, which sides are reinforced by folding the trapezoidal panels Illa, 1111) over onto these panels Ila, Ilb. Similarly, the small sides are formed by folding along the lines 2a, 2b the rectangular lateral panels IVa and lVb, these panels being reinforced by folding the triangular panels Va, Vb onto these panels IVa, IVb.

It can be seen that the corners U and S have been cut off in this embodiment solely in order that the height of the panels IIIa, Illb does not exceed that of the panels Ila, llb. It is obvious that the loss of material resulting from these cutaway portions is practically insignificant.

Each of the large sides is connected to the two adjacent small sides, and vice versa by triangular gores such as Vla, VII). The outer faces of these two triangular gores are interconnected by an adhesive and the triangular portion of double thickness thus obtained is adhered to one of the inner faces of the two adjacent sides, preferably the smaller side IVa or IVb in the presently-described embodiment.

The trapezoidal panels Illa, IIlb and triangular panels Va, Vb are preferably also adhered to the inner face of the rectangular sides onto which they are folded. The folding over of these four panels and the adhesion thereof constitute preferably a preliminary operation effected hefore the construct-ion proper of the box, the rest of the blank remaining flat during this operation.

The various adhesions mentioned herebefore can be achieved by means of adhesives of any type and in particular thermoplastic adhesives. It will be understood that they can be replaced by any other fixing means, for example clips or thermowelding when the material employed permits this type of fixing.

The upsetting lines can be effected in any manner by purely mechanical methods or by thermal methods, depending on the type of material employed.

The box thus constructed has the following advantages over like boxes of known type:

(1) A practically complete avoidance of waste of the starting material.

(2) The main dimensions of the box are oblique relative to the orientation of the fibres of the roll of material from which the square blank is cut. The result of this feature is that in panels formed from two thicknesses of material by folding over and adhering one panel to another, the fibres of each of the adjoining panels are oriented in different directions and the composite panel thus formed has a higher strength than in the case where these fibres are oriented in a parallel direction. In actual fact, a box of the type shown in FIG. 4 with the same dimensions as that shown in FIG. 2, has substantially a strength at least equal to that of the box shown in FIG. 2.

(3) The blank F according to the invention is simpler than the known blank F. In particular, whereas the blank F has four cutting lines forming flaps d d d d;, the blank F has none.

(4) The smaller area of the blank results not only in a saving of material but also a possibility for the manufacturer having a certain tooling to obtain with this tooling an increased production output and to employ tooling of lower power and less precision since it effects practically no cutting operation.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described, many modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Thus it will be understood that some of the panels of the blank adapted to be applied and fixed to another panel can be coated with a coating of thermoplastic adhesive so that adhesion is achieved merely by a subsequent heating .operation.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a Variant of the invention in which 4 each of the corners of a pair of diagonally opposite corners, such as T (the other opposite corner not being shown) is provided with two strip portions VIla, VIII). These strip portions can be narrow so that waste of material resulting from the cutting of this blank is small.

These strips are preferably coated on their inner face with a coating of latex adhesive and the portions corresponding to areas 7a, 7b onto which they are folded in the course of constructing the box are also coated with such an adhesive together with the inner face of the triangular panels of the gores Via, Vlb. In the course of construction, the strips Vllb are folded onto the gores and hold them in position by adhesion without need to coat with an adhesive any outside portion of the box.

The same type of adhesive can be employed for adhering the trapezium portions, such as lllb, to the rectangular portions III), as shown in FIG. 5.

Having now described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Box comprising in combination a folded blank of sheet fibre-containing material having four edges which define a square blank in the initial flat state of the blank, two of said edges being parallel to the orientation of the fibres of the material, said blank comprising, defined by fold lines at 45 to said edges in the initial fiat state of the blank, a rectangular centre panel constituting the bottom wall of the box, four rectangular lateral panels adjoining the centre panel and constituting vertical lateral outer walls of the box, four triangular panels in the corners of the blank and constituting vertical lateral inner walls of the box which are coextensive with said lateral outer walls and constitute four composite lateral walls, the material of which comprises two crossed fibre orientations, four triangular gores defined by parts of said four edges and by fold lines defining the vertical ends of the four lateral panels, each of said gores having a median fold line at to the corresponding one of said edges, and fixing means fixing said coextensive vertical triangular panels to said vertical rectangular lateral panels and fixing each of said gores to the inner face of one of said lateral panels.

2. Box as claimed in claim 1, wherein said centre rectangular panel is oblong in shape and two opposed corner triangular panels have their corners truncated along an edge at 45 to said four edges of the blank in the fiat state of the blank, said truncation edge abutting said bottom of the box.

3. Box as claimed in claim 1, further comprising in each of two opposed triangular panels two additional narrow strip portions integral with the triangular panel and projecting from said four edges of the blank, said two strip portions of each of said oppose-d triangular panels overlapping two of said gores in the box.

4. Box as claimed in claim 1, wherein said fixing means is an adhesive located on the blank alongside said edges of the blank on one face of the blank corresponding to the inner face of said centre panel constituting said bottom wall of the box.

5. Box comprising in combination a folded blank of sheet mate-rial having four edges which define a square blank in the initial flat state of the blank, said blank comprising, defined by fold lines at 45 to said edges in the initial flat state of the blank, a rectangular centre panel constituting the bottom wall of the box, four rectangular lateral panels adjoining the center panel and constituting vertical lateral outer walls of the box, four triangular panels in the corners of the blank and constituting vertical lateral inner walls of the box which are coextensive with said lateral outer walls and constitute four composite lateral walls, four triangular gores defined by parts of said four edges and by fold lines defining the vertical ends of the four lateral panels, each of said gores having a median fold line at 90 to the corresponding one of said edges, and fixing means fixing said coextensive vertical triangular panels to said vertical rectangular lateral panels and fixing each of said gores to the inner face of one of said lateral panels.

6. A rectangular blank for constructing a box by the folding and the interconnection of portions of the blank, said blank comprising, defined by fold-initiating impression lines formed on one face of the blank and at 45 to the edges of the blank, a rectangular centre panel for constituting the bottom wall of the box, four rectangular lateral panels adjoining the four sides of the centre panel for constituting vertical lateral outer walls of the box, four triangular panels in the corner of the blank for constituting vertical lateral inner walls of the box which are co -extensive with said lateral panels in the box and constitute four composite lateral walls of the box, four triangular gores defined by parts of said four edges of the blank and by two of said adjacent rectangular lateral panels, each of said gores having a median fold-initiating impression line at 90 to the corresponding edge of the blank, portions of adhesive extending along said edges of the blank, and portions of adhesive on each of said rectangular lateral panels and in symmetrical relation to the portions of adhesive in the adjoining triangular panel relative to the fold-initiating line common to the triangular panel and the rectangular lateral panel, said portions of adhesive being on the face of the blank corresponding to the inner face of said bottom wall of the box, whereby when the triangular panels are coextensive with their corresponding lateral panels on the box said portions of adhesive adjoin each other for holding the panels in their folded box positions.

7. A blank as claimed in claim 6, wherein said portions of adhesive are portions of latex adhesive.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,175,160 3/1916 McDonald 22941 X 1,760,106 5/1930 Beach 229-- X 1,774,299 8/1930 Shubbs et al. 229 2,113,349 5/ 1938 Keener 22931 2,238,468. 4/ 1941 Hayden. 3,043,068 7/ 1962 Blonder. 3,245,601 4/ 1966 Hawkins 229-48 X GEORGE O. RALSTON, Primary Examiner. 

1. BOX COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A FOLDED BLANK OF SHEET FIBRE-CONTAINING MATERIAL HAVING FOUR EDGES WHICH DEFING A SQUARE BLANK IN THE INITIAL FLAT STATE OF THE BLANK, TWO OF SAID EDGES BEING PARALLEL TO THE ORIENTATION OF THE FIBRES OF THE MATERIAL, SAID BLANK COMPRISING, DEFINED BY FOLD LINES AT 45* TO SAID EDGES IN THE INITIAL FLAT STATE OF THE BLANK, A RECTANGULAR CENTRE PANEL CONSTITUTING THE BOTTOM WALL OF THE BOX, FOUR RECTANGULAR LATERAL PANELS ADJOINING THE CENTRE PANEL AND CONSTITUTING VERTICAL LATERAL OUTER WALLS OF THE BOX, FOUR TRIANGULAR PANELS IN THE CORNERS OF THE BLANK AND CONSTITUTING VERTICAL LATERAL INNER WALLS OF THE BOX WHICH ARE COEXTENSIVE WITH SAID LATERAL OUTER WALLS AND CONSTITUTE FOUR COMPOSITE LATERAL WALLS, THE MATERIAL OF WHICH COMPRISES TWO CROSSED FIBRE ORIENTATIONS, FOUR TRIANGULAR GORES DEFINED BY PARTS OF SAID FOUR EDGES AND BY FOLD LINES DEFINING THE VERTICAL ENDS OF THE FOUR LATERAL PANELS, EACH OF SAID GORES HAVING A MEDIAN FOLD LINE AT 90* TO THE CORRESPONDING ONE OF SAID EDGES, AND FIXING MEANS FIXING SAID COEXTENSIVE VERTICAL TRAINGUALR PANELS TO SAID VERTICAL RECTANGULAR LATERAL PANELS AND FIXING EACH OF SAID GORES TO THE INNER FACE OF ONE OF SAID LATERAL PANELS. 